At a glance, it probably looked like a ladies' day on the golf course.

But the outing at Prairie Green Golf Course in late May brought together a group of women with a stronger purpose than socializing. These were executives and new professionals at Great Western Bank, and they were on the course as part of a larger effort to prepare women for leadership.

"Historically, a lot of business takes place on the golf course, and we found in our group not a lot of people golf," said Katie LeBrun, the bank's communications consultant.

So she and a group of women brought in a golf instructor and held a low-pressure networking event.

"It's very nonintimidating," said Jenn Warren, head of audit, operational risk and compliance. "Golfing in business is not about your ability to play the sport. It's about building relationships, and that's the piece we need to learn how to harness."

Women represent 54 percent of the labor pool in banking and finance, according to information published in May by American Banker, but the numbers diverge at the executive level. Eleven percent of industry chief financial officers are women, and 23 percent of senior officer positions are held by women.

Great Western and other area banks are trying to shift those statistics. At Great Western, 70 percent of jobs are held by women while the leadership team is 80 percent men.

"Which isn't good. We're not proud of that," said Ken Karels, president and CEO. "So the question is, how do you change that?"

Connecting women

The book Lean In by Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg was Great Western's catalyst for change. Karels and Cheryl Olson, head of learning and development marketing, distributed the book at a women's luncheon in 2013.

Colleagues bonded over the book, and WomenConnect was born. The group of eight Great Western employees varies in age, seniority and job focus.

Olson, who serves as adviser, said one theme of Sandberg's book that resonated is "that it's a jungle gym, not a ladder."

"And that's one of the messages we've been trying to allow our employees to recognize," she said. "There isn't a single path they're destined to take. Too often, someone will be hired as a teller, and then they have to be a personal banker and then a retail manager … but truly the path to leadership in the organization runs through many areas."

"Some of it is just … putting opportunities in front of them where they have a chance to show their talent," Olson said. "It's a deliberate effort to find ways for women to step up and shine and then encouraging them and supporting them when they do, so they will be successful. The thing that underscored all of this was developing skills and confidence."

The bank started an internal newsletter spotlighting employees and executives are talking about a job shadow program within the organization.

"I think men are really good about promoting themselves and women are more passive because we don't want to seem braggy, but there's a difference," LeBrun said. "Hopefully, we'll learn from each other how to do that and how to support each other."

The bank also has made changes designed to create a friendlier environment for women. A wage study found a compensation disparity that Karels said has been corrected.

A new maternity policy two years ago allowed employees to draw from a general pool of paid time off rather than designated vacation and sick leave, and the waiting period was shortened for a short-term disability program.

"And we have a return-to-work bonus, so once a woman has been back six weeks from pregnancy or adoption, they get a $1,000 bonus," said Warren, who gave birth to twins last year.

The bank also can point to Olson, the first woman on its leadership team, and Kris Pederson, its first female board member, as proof that women can ascend within the organization.

"It doesn't happen overnight. It's something we have to work on and be conscious of and measure," Karels said. "But it's not just doing that and putting the wrong people in the wrong chairs because you want to make a quota. It's how do you get women prepared for the job."

Encouraging women to network and focusing on multiple paths to leadership has helped Meta Financial Group grow that talent, said Tyler Haahr, president and CEO.

"It's something I think is important for us," he said. "We're growing so quickly. I think some organizations don't do it as well, so if you can do that and you get a reputation for doing that, you can draw tremendous leadership."

Meta has multiple women in senior leadership positions, including directors of compliance and human resources and a vice president of commercial banking.

"I'm a big believer you don't try to get 10 people exactly like you," Haahr said. "I'd rather have 10 people with different personalities. People communicate in different ways."

When Haahr hired Kathy Thorson as MetaBank market president in 2006, the experience played out a bit unconventionally.

"We had a very strange interview," he said. "I think unlike what she was expecting. I said, 'You're perfect for the job. If this is what you want to do, it's yours. You're what I'm looking for and you've earned it.' "

The reaction from his banking colleagues in Sioux Falls, where women have not traditionally led banking operations, was memorable.

Thorson, whose career had taken her from being a teller through personal banking and then business banking, said opportunities have opened for women to lead in her industry.

"It doesn't have to be part of the good-boy network," she said. "It's really about the individual. Women are no longer slated in a box. If they work hard and they exceed expectations, they can do what they want. They can live their passion."

It's a message Thorson shares with other women, both in her organization and in the community as she participates in a leadership development program for women through EmBe.

"When there's not somebody who's made that track ahead of you, when you don't have that example, when you don't have a mentor, it's harder," she said.

Industry veterans weigh in

When Cathy Clark entered the banking industry more than 30 years ago, she drew on her experience growing up on an Iowa dairy farm as an agriculture lender.

But that was 1980, "when they were shooting bankers and having a lot of farm sales because the economy was so tough and the rates went to 21 percent," said Clark, who was one of few female ag lenders at the start of her career.

"I think understandably you were questioned by your customers," she said. " 'Does she really know what she's talking about?' And I did because I lived it. I think the difficult thing was I saw my father's face in so many of those men who had worked very hard and their whole livelihood was going away."

Sometimes those first clients were looking for someone to blame, Clark said, and sometimes it landed on her.

"But it made me a better person … and it made me smarter to help advise customers and companies not to get into those positions," she said. "It was the worst time to get into banking, but it was the best time to come into banking."

Clark, now regional vice president for commercial banking at Wells Fargo & Co., said the environment for women leaders has changed.

"I think as an organization we see at the leadership, at the top of the house of Wells Fargo, that historically you kind of were siloed and went up that way. (We see) the real value of going across lines. It gives you a much better and broader perspective and makes you a better team member."

Wells Fargo has a mentorship program for promising female employees that places them with a female mentor in another part of the company.

"So your conversations are in a safe place," Clark said. "You can have candid conversations about issues, whether personally or professionally, and I think it helps them have validating that the career can be a jungle gym and that is not a negative."

Mentors serve as advocates for mentees as new opportunities arise in the company, Clark said.

There's also a women's team member network at Wells Fargo that brings women together across company business lines for professional development and team building.

"We have to help each other be successful," Clark said. "We're so much better as an organization when we come together to make each other better."

The experience also helps give aspiring female leaders a preview of the road that might be ahead.

"You look at that woman at the top and you think they had such an easy road to hoe and then you hear the rest of the story," Clark said. "And it gives you such appreciation."

MetaBank's Thorson had similar thoughts and added that while there now are more paths open to women, deciding whether to try one that leads to executive management should be an individual decision.

"If that's your passion, by all means follow it," she said. "And it's about exceeding expectations. Right or wrong, women will have to work a little harder – at exceeding my employer's expectations, my employees' expectations and probably even my own expectations."